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Rishi Sunak is set to overturn the ban on building new onshore wind farms to stave off a rebellion from Tory MPs, The Telegraph can reveal.
Ministers are poised to unveil changes to planning rules that will free up councils to give the green light to proposed turbines where there is broad public support.
The move comes as MPs prepare to vote on the Government’s contentious Energy Bill on Tuesday after returning from their summer break.
A group of Tories is backing an amendment tabled by Sir Alok Sharma, the former Cop26 president, that would scrap the ban on new onshore wind.
It has attracted signatories from all wings of the party including Liz Truss, the former prime minister. Rebels are “confident” it is destined to pass.
Labour supports the proposal, which means only six more Tory backbenchers would need to vote in favour to overturn the Government’s majority.
The Telegraph understands ministers have been locked in talks with MPs for almost a week over a compromise deal to avoid a bruising Commons defeat.
Negotiations are set to continue on Monday as the final details are thrashed out, especially on how quickly the Government will be able to legally scrap the ban.
But plans are being drawn up for a minister to submit a written statement to the Commons this week committing to change the current planning rules.
Having secured the necessary guarantees, the rebels would then drop their amendment.
It would end the situation, which has been written into law since 2015, where an objection from just a single resident can prevent a wind farm from being built.
Government sources said the changes would allow councils to “more flexibly address the planning impacts of onshore wind projects as identified by local communities”.
One Tory MP who is supporting the amendment said No 10 had little choice but to act, given it was supported by “senior people from all wings of the party”.
Another added: “It’s great to see ministers listening to concerns and, providing local communities are happy, it will make net zero easier and cheaper too.”
The announcement will mark the second time that Mr Sunak has been forced to act on the issue after coming under pressure from his own MPs.
When he took office last October, he pledged to keep the ban in place – reversing the decision taken by Ms Truss just weeks earlier to end it.
But in the face of a sizeable rebellion from backbenchers, he performed an about-turn on that position in December and said the embargo would be lifted.
That in turn prompted a backlash from Tory MPs who oppose the construction of new onshore wind farms and wanted the moratorium to stay in force.
The Prime Minister promised them that rules would be drawn up to ensure local communities are fully consulted before any new project can be built.
Ministers also began to work on plans for people who live near new turbines to be compensated in the form of cheaper electricity.
But since then there has been little progress on the issue, prompting Tory MPs to force the issue again by tabling their amendment to the Energy Bill.
Sir Alok said: “The Government committed to change planning rules by the end of April 2023 to overturn the de facto ban on onshore wind but this has not happened to date.
“This amendment therefore seeks merely to deliver on the Government’s own promise and help to unlock investment in one of the cheapest forms of energy, and ultimately bring down household bills and improve the UK’s energy security.”
Under the current rules, councils can only approve new sites if they can show that local concerns over their construction have been “fully addressed”.
The effect of the wording is that a single objection can prevent a project from going ahead.
Ministers are set to loosen the requirements so they can be built “when it has been demonstrated that the planning impacts have been satisfactorily addressed”.
The new guidance will stress that developers must “act on concerns and suggestions” from residents and that councils can only approve them where “there is community support”.
Under the changes, local authorities will also be given more discretion to choose where new onshore wind projects can be built within their boundaries.